DSB releases report on ICBM and conventional missile capabilities - news picked up by USA Today
As reported in this USA Today article:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2006-03-23-strategic-missile-threat_x.htm
the Defense Science Board released a report stating that the Pentagon risks running out of scientists to operate and upgrade our conventional missiles and ICBMs.
The Report of the DSB Task Force on Future Strategic Strike Skills can be found here:
http://www.acq.osd.mil/dsb/reports/2006-03-Skills_Report.pdf
The text of the news article can be found below, but I wanted to draw your attention to two of the findings and recommendations found in that DSB report. They are another example of the why the NDEP/SMART program and supporting the S&E workforce is important for the DoD.
Finding #3
The strategic strike area most at risk today is ballistic missiles:
Current skills may not be able to cope with unanticipated failures requiring analysis, testing, and redesign;
A large number of skilled military, civil service, and contractor personnel are nearing retirement;
Design skills are rapidly disappearing, both for major redesigns of current systems and for the design of new strategic systems; and
Applications programs are necessary, but not sufficient to maintain skills; moreover, they have never been funded at the required levels.
Recommendation
Ballistic missile program offices should devote resources to the transfer of critical knowledge and skills to early career personnel in industry.
The Secretary of Defense should direct the Navy and the Air Force - absent near-term systems development - to fund advanced development (subsystem design, system prototype development, and testing) to support next-generation system development (which will also restore and maintain the skills base).
The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Navy and Air Force Applications Programs are fully funded at the STRATCOM SAG's originally-recommended levels to address critical areas not supported fully by advanced development.
Finding #4
DoD and industry have difficulty attracting and retaining the best and brightest students to the science and engineering disciplines relevant to maintaining current and future strategic strike capabilities.
The National Defense Education Act (NDEA) program has the potential for attracting personnel to government; however, it currently does not have strategic strike element.
Recommendation
Strategic strike program offices should encourage and fund supporting industries to develop combined undergraduate scholarship and co-op programs for U.S. citizens in relevant science and engineering disciplines that would:
Include the requirement to work for a period of time in DoD or the Defense industry;
Encourage future graduate studies; and,
Take advantage of the NDEA program.